This invention is directed to a modular unit for use with electronic equipment, such as computers, where such unit is adapted to receive a memory card to be electrically interconnected to such equipment, but which must be capable of being readily disconnected therefrom.
By way of brief background, with the growth of data collection, storage and retrieval of information, memory card technology has grown significantly. At the present time, there are three different memory card types, as defined by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA). This is the standards body responsible for developing the 68-pin memory card standard. The three memory card types, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, are as follows:
a. Type I Memory Cards are the same width and length as a common credit card, 54 mm.times.85.6 mm, but are thicker than a credit card. The thickness of a Type I card is 3.3 mm (0.130").
b. Type II Memory Cards are used by those companies which are utilizing memory components that are too high to be housed within a Type I card. Type II memory cards are also the same overall length and width as credit cards, but have a raised body cross section in the substrate area which gives them an overall thickness of 5 mm (0.195"). The raised substrate areas of these cards are 48 mm in width.
c. Type III Memory Cards are the result of a recent movement sponsored by the Small Form Factor Committee (SFF) to enable 1.8" Small Form Factor Disk Drives to be plugged into memory card connectors in small portable computer applications. Type III memory cards are the same length and width as Type I and Type II memory cards, However, Type III cards have a substrate area thickness of 10.5 mm. Also, Type III memory cards require a card guide opening width of 51 mm on the header connector to accommodate the slightly wider raised substrate area.
One of the desirable features of a memory card holder is its ability to accommodate all of the presently known and used memory cards. Further, to be able to do same with a simplified holder is even more preferred.
Typical prior art memory card holders have relied upon complex moving parts and/or levers to effect removal of the memory card. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,790 discloses a header device having means for ejecting a memory card which includes a pair of first levers that abut an end portion of the memory card and a pair of second levers located outside the holder which when rotated cause movement of the first levers to pull the memory card from the header. U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,545 also discloses a lever mechanism attached to the header for ejecting the memory card. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,420 discloses a card holder having an ejection mechanism which includes a U-shape member that wraps around the mating end of the card and is attached to a lever mechanism on the card holder. Upon activating the lever, the U-shape member pulls against the end of the memory card to eject it from the holder. Another eject mechanism within the card holder is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,972.
The present invention provides for a holder mechanism which eliminates the lever devices of the prior art, while providing a holder which can accept the several types of memory cards.